The present invention relates in general to vending machines and in particular to a new and useful device for collecting coins deposited in a vending machine.
A coin collector of this kind is described in German utility model No. 7,909,710. In this device, a swivel plate in its rest position obstructs both a return channel and a collecting channel for coins deposited in the machine. The coins recorded by a credit indicator, fall on the swivel plate. The space above the plate is sufficiently large to receive a greater number of coins. As soon as the buyer has inserted coins corresponding to the purchase price, which is registered by the credit indicator, and actuates a respective lever of the vending machine, the commodity is released and the plate swivels into a position such that the coins fall into the collecting channel.
Should the user of the machine wish, prior to removing the merchandise, to recover the already inserted coins, he or she must actuate the return lever. This lever is connected to the swivel plate which is thereby pivoted so that the coins supported thereon pass into the coin return channel. At the same time, the pivoting of the swivel plate causes resetting of the credit indicator through a coupling mechanism. In order to prevent a return of the coins before the credit indicator is reset, a reversal lock is provided by the above cited reference. This reversal lock of the reference may be disadvantageous in that sometimes, upon actuating the coin return lever only briefly, the coins inserted later always pass to the return, without the buyer noticing it as a malfunction. Further, with a failure of the reversal lock, it cannot be insured that the inserted coins are not returned prior to resetting the credit indicator.